Rebel News Podcast - EZRA LEVANT ｜ Trudeau’s immigration minister gets in a car crash of an interview — with the CTV of all people

00:00:00.280 Hello, my friends. First time I've ever seen a mainstream media journalist ask anything approaching a tough question to a Trudeau cabinet minister about mass immigration.

00:00:09.660 I'll take you through it and give you my thoughts interspersed.

00:00:12.560 But first, let me invite you to become a subscriber to Rebel News Plus. That's the video version of this podcast.

00:00:17.960 I want you to see this. You won't believe your eyes.

00:00:21.640 Go to rebelnewsplus.com, click subscribe, eight bucks a month.

00:00:24.320 And you know, eight bucks might not sound like a lot of money to you, but it's a lot to us.

00:00:28.400 It really adds up, and that's how we pay our bills.

00:00:31.240 All right, here's today's podcast.

00:00:37.300 Tonight, Trudeau's immigration minister gets into a car crash of an interview with CTV, of all people.

00:00:44.620 It's August 28th, and this is The Ezra LeVant Show.

00:00:47.340 You're fighting for freedom!

00:00:50.220 Shame on you, you censorious bug!

00:00:58.400 You know, CTV these days is usually just as bad as Trudeau's CBC State Broadcaster.

00:01:09.360 And for the same reason, they are rented by Trudeau with massive subsidies and payments.

00:01:14.860 In some ways, it's worse when a company like CTV takes money from Trudeau,

00:01:20.000 because like I say, they're renting CTV, not buying them like the CBC.

00:01:24.440 CBC can count on government money year after year.

00:01:28.520 It's like they're married, whereas CTV is just dating Trudeau.

00:01:33.220 They've got to answer that old question, what have you done for me lately, all the time.

00:01:38.060 That said, they have a reporter named Vassie Kapalos, who does some good interviews from time to time.

00:01:45.800 I've got to give her credit.

00:01:46.680 And here she is interviewing Mark Miller, the nepotism hire, one of many in Trudeau's cabinet.

00:01:54.340 He usually hires people for demographic tokenism.

00:01:58.300 Remember when he hired, of course, Jody Wilson-Raybould, the first indigenous justice minister.

00:02:04.160 He likes to hire people like a Noah's Ark of Diversity.

00:02:08.060 He breaks that rule when it comes to his own wedding party.

00:02:11.440 You can see in this image here, there's Seamus O'Regan, Dominique LeBlanc, Mark Miller, Gerald Butz,

00:02:17.420 all of his friends from a privileged, rich, white, old-stock Canadian background.

00:02:24.040 Normally, he hates those things, except for when it's his people.

00:02:27.440 Anyway, Mark Miller is one of those people who, if it weren't for his good luck in being part of Trudeau's wedding party,

00:02:34.720 would never have been put into cabinet.

00:02:37.060 He's just too stupid to have earned that position on his own.

00:02:40.500 I mean, now that Seamus O'Regan is gone, the average IQ of that cabinet has jumped, but it's still pretty awful.

00:02:47.240 Of course, it must be said that no cabinet ministers in the government have any real say.

00:02:53.480 I mean, quite often they just read anything put in front of them like Yara Sachs.

00:02:58.540 I think Chrystia Freeland actually does handle files or delegates them to smarter people. 1.00

00:03:03.460 She, I think, actually is in many ways a de facto prime minister.

00:03:06.720 But Mark Miller, at the very least, is trotted out to do interviews.

00:03:11.220 And this interview he did with Vashie Kapalos over the last couple of days was just a disaster.

00:03:16.580 And I'd like to play for you some clips and give you my thoughts.

00:03:19.660 I'm not going to play the whole thing.

00:03:20.780 It's about 10 minutes long, but I'll play most of it.

00:03:23.160 Here, let's take a look.

00:03:24.220 I am joined now live by Immigration Minister Mark Miller.

00:03:26.320 Minister, good to see you.

00:03:26.940 Thanks for making the time.

00:03:27.780 Thanks for having me, Vashie.

00:03:28.540 I want to start off and ask you what the objective of these changes are, particularly with the temporary foreign worker program.

00:03:34.460 Is it, for example, to address remarkably low youth employment rates?

00:03:38.660 Is it more broad than that?

00:03:39.580 Like, when this is fully realized, what is the goal?

00:03:43.300 Well, it is broader than that.

00:03:44.960 We've seen recent youth unemployment rates jump.

00:03:47.780 Earlier on this year, I announced the reduction of temporary workers in this country from 7% to 5%.

00:03:55.260 What that looks like is a lot different than just temporary foreign workers.

00:03:57.740 Temporary foreign workers are a very small part of that pie chart.

00:04:00.760 International students.

00:04:02.080 Now, right off the bat, he gets something wrong.

00:04:04.080 If I heard her correctly, Vashie Kapalos talks about the youth employment rate.

00:04:09.140 Now, do you know the difference between an employment rate and an unemployment rate?

00:04:13.740 It's a little bit tricky.

00:04:14.920 Everyone knows what the unemployment rate means.

00:04:16.860 It's of those people who are in the workforce, how many can't find jobs?

00:04:22.220 So that's unemployment and, you know, it might be 10% or 6% or whatever the number is.

00:04:28.440 It's always higher for young people.

00:04:30.620 But I don't think that's what she asked.

00:04:32.720 That's the unemployment rate.

00:04:34.340 That's people in the workforce who are looking for work but can't find it.

00:04:39.320 What she asked about is the falling employment rate.

00:04:42.740 That means people just not even trying to get a job.

00:04:48.300 They're not even looking.

00:04:50.000 They're not going to bother.

00:04:52.060 The youth employment rate has fallen.

00:04:55.600 The labor force, young Canadians, have stopped even trying to get jobs. 1.00

00:05:01.200 It's actually astonishing how quickly the employment rate has fallen.

00:05:05.540 So of the group that's looking for work, the number who can find work is shrinking.

00:05:11.300 But the number who are even looking are shrinking.

00:05:13.980 I don't actually think Mark Miller knows what the employment rate is.

00:05:17.280 And I'm not showing off or anything.

00:05:18.920 I just happen to know the difference.

00:05:20.740 I don't think Mark Miller does.

00:05:22.800 I think like so many other cabinet ministers, he just, like, reads what's put in front of him.

00:05:27.240 I don't know if you saw this clip from – oh, my God, this clip from Melanie Jolie the other day who was – you know, her hands were out and she was – and she used the phrase supply chain. 0.69

00:05:39.040 And, boy, if I had been there, I would have said, can you give me a simple definition of the word supply chain?

00:05:45.580 Because I don't think she knows what it means, but she sort of likes saying it.

00:05:49.920 Here's Melanie Jolie talking about supply chains.

00:05:52.960 I've got to get me a few of those supply chains.

00:05:54.720 Take a look.

00:05:55.500 To talk about different issues that are important to Canadians, including, of course, what is happening in the world.

00:06:02.760 We know that a lot of the geopolitical instability is causing a lot of anxiety with Canadians.

00:06:12.240 And also, we know that affordability issues are linked to the fact that there are so many supply chains that have been disrupted because there are so many geopolitical tensions.

00:06:21.420 And we saw it again today with what happened in Kyiv and across Ukraine.

00:06:26.580 And, of course, we condemn these attacks by Russia.

00:06:30.040 And at the same time, we saw it yesterday with the Hezbollah attack on Israel and Israel standing to protect its own security.

00:06:44.120 Yeah, Mark Miller is – I don't know.

00:06:49.540 I think he's about the same skill level as Melanie Jolie, which is a devastating insult.

00:06:53.860 All right.

00:06:54.240 Back to the conversation between Vashya Keplos and Mark Miller.

00:06:58.700 Take a look.

00:06:59.040 The postgraduate work permits that come with us, come with them.

00:07:02.200 The humanitarian efforts that we've deployed to welcome Ukrainians here, they all form part of that category.

00:07:06.980 You can't just send people back to Ukraine and say this is all solved.

00:07:10.820 We have to actually do this in a surgical way that makes sense for Canadians but also makes sense for the economy.

00:07:15.760 Yeah, no.

00:07:17.020 This is not about Ukrainians and we all know it.

00:07:19.900 It is a fact that many countries around the world took Ukrainians at the beginning of the war.

00:07:24.920 We even saw some of that in Ireland when we went to see – now, the Ukrainians actually have fit in fairly well in most cases where they've been welcomed as refugees.

00:07:36.060 And I think there's a few reasons for that.

00:07:37.420 First of all, people don't feel that they're being ripped off in a deep way when you have someone coming from an actual war zone.

00:07:47.200 I don't think anyone would say what war in Ukraine.

00:07:50.220 I think we all know.

00:07:51.260 There are some questions about why any men would leave, shouldn't you say, and fight for your country.

00:07:56.500 But in the cases of families, I think people understand.

00:08:00.940 Ukrainians, many of them do speak English.

00:08:02.980 But even if they don't, there is some cultural similarity, someone coming from Europe, that maybe someone coming from, say, Somalia or another place doesn't have.

00:08:11.440 So Mark Miller was playing on – he was playing the Ukrainian card with sort of his way of saying if you don't accept refugees, well, surely you're a racist.

00:08:21.480 But no, no, no, no, the Ukrainians have not made up large numbers of refugees in Canada for a long time.

00:08:30.660 If you look at this chart of this year, the number one source of refugees – I'm not talking about student visas or temporary foreign workers.

00:08:40.700 The number one source is from India.

00:08:46.000 India?

00:08:46.600 India is not in a war that I know of.

00:08:50.920 It's not a civil war that I know of.

00:08:52.680 It has some civil liberties.

00:08:54.800 It's the world's largest democracy.

00:08:56.720 I don't think I would want to visit – I wouldn't want to live there myself.

00:09:00.220 But you cannot say that India is a place that has refugees.

00:09:05.300 And if you do, get ready for literally the world's largest population, 1.4 billion.

00:09:10.260 Same thing with Bangladesh. 0.99

00:09:12.540 Same thing with the other top countries on that list there.

00:09:15.400 Nigeria, Mexico?

00:09:18.680 Mexico is not a place from which refugees come in a good faith way. 1.00

00:09:23.280 And here's my point.

00:09:24.880 You can have your opinions about the war in Ukraine and Russia.

00:09:28.720 And you can have your opinions about men leaving a war zone to come live a relatively easy life in Canada.

00:09:36.680 I think there's arguments both ways.

00:09:38.760 But I don't think anyone feels ripped off.

00:09:42.280 No one feels like you're lying if you come from Ukraine and say, I'm a refugee.

00:09:45.620 Yeah, we know.

00:09:46.960 But what is your excuse when you come from Mexico, from India?

00:09:51.380 And that's why people are furious.

00:09:53.540 Because we feel, we all see it.

00:09:56.600 We know they're ripping us off.

00:09:59.200 They know they're ripping us off.

00:10:01.720 They know that we know.

00:10:03.220 We know that they know.

00:10:04.700 And we're supposed to go along with this.

00:10:06.840 And the only idiot who does is Mark Miller.

00:10:09.780 Okay, play the next clip.

00:10:12.240 In the temporary foreign workers space, people working in the agricultural sector, transformation in Tim Hortons, we've seen an overheating that needs to be adjusted ever since the end of COVID.

00:10:22.840 And that's something I think every Canadian expects us to do.

00:10:25.840 Those numbers do affect affordability.

00:10:28.460 And not all those people can become permanent residents.

00:10:30.780 So the announcements that we made today, that Minister Boasino made today, are sort of a smart reflection of what we need to do to ramp that down back to what looks like pandemic, pre-pandemic levels.

00:10:42.120 Yeah, blaming COVID as the reason for high immigration, it makes no sense in any means.

00:10:51.540 I mean, first of all, during COVID, we had mass unemployment.

00:10:54.160 We didn't need more people.

00:10:55.600 And the idea of bringing people, moving people around the world, that seemed to go against the COVID narrative.

00:10:59.700 But even if COVID had something to do with this, and I'm not sure what it does.

00:11:04.080 I think a lot of people were unemployed during COVID, and we have to sop them up again.

00:11:08.320 Why we would bring in foreigners to do that makes no sense. 1.00

00:11:11.260 But it's almost 2025.

00:11:15.060 We're in the homestretch of 2024.

00:11:17.840 And blaming COVID is such a lame excuse, only a liberal could think it up.

00:11:22.780 Here, here's more of this conversation that seems to be going off the rails.

00:11:26.140 Take a look.

00:11:27.000 Why the undoing didn't start earlier.

00:11:28.960 Because, for example, if you look at, you know, temporary residents who hold work permits, that number has increased by 150% over two years.

00:11:36.120 It was 60%, not just low wage, I'm speaking more broadly.

00:11:39.020 It was up 60% last July, year over year.

00:11:42.760 Why did your government wait until just this January to start addressing one stream of it, and now to address the rest of it?

00:11:48.080 And could you not have addressed things earlier in order to mitigate some of the issues your Canadians are now dealing with?

00:11:53.340 I'd say 2020 hindsight is always something we can indulge in.

00:12:00.580 As a thoughtful government, you always have to reflect on what you could have done faster, what you should do, what you shouldn't do.

00:12:05.020 I'd simply say this, the labour shortages that we saw even a year ago are no longer there.

00:12:11.480 Markets are contracting, labour markets are contracting.

00:12:14.580 And there's no longer the needs for the people that we were bringing in in those amounts to be here or to come to Canada.

00:12:20.980 That's just reality.

00:12:22.000 I think everyone expects governments to adjust.

00:12:24.920 But did the need exist a year ago?

00:12:26.200 Are you asserting that it did?

00:12:27.780 It's very possible in some areas it did.

00:12:30.220 I think now it's quite obvious that we do have to adjust.

00:12:33.720 Yeah, he keeps coming back to an economic argument about how economically wonderful mass immigration is.

00:12:43.300 But do you think for a second that he's blind to what he's actually doing, the political ramifications of bringing in 2 million people a year?

00:12:50.560 The social and cultural ramifications?

00:12:53.100 He's doing that on purpose.

00:12:54.320 So it is technically true that if you add someone to the Canadian economy, even if you add an unemployed, illiterate person to the country, you do increase the GDP.

00:13:08.440 Because someone has to house him, feed him, clothe him.

00:13:12.240 If he gets into trouble with the law, the criminal justice system has to deploy.

00:13:18.880 The welfare system may have to deploy.

00:13:20.520 So it is true, no matter who you bring to this country, whatever their skill level or however troublesome they are, yeah, you're going to get that GDP growing by a little bit.

00:13:30.280 But it's going to make us all poor in the mean.

00:13:33.940 And that's what's happened, is to juice the economy.

00:13:36.640 They brought in more and more people to hide the fact that we're actually getting poor individually.

00:13:43.000 You can grow the size of the pie, so to speak, by adding more people.

00:13:48.520 But every slice that belongs to us here gets smaller.

00:13:52.320 We are getting poor on a per capita basis.

00:13:55.140 Every individual in Canada on an average basis is getting poorer.

00:13:58.900 And they're just bringing in mass immigration to try and hide that here. 0.92

00:14:01.920 Watch a little more.

00:14:02.580 That's just reality.

00:14:04.020 And I think everyone expects governments to adjust.

00:14:06.920 But did the need exist a year ago?

00:14:08.360 Are you asserting that it did?

00:14:09.760 It's very possible in some areas it did.

00:14:12.240 I think now it's quite obvious that we do have to adjust.

00:14:16.200 As a minister, I have a responsibility to look forward and figure out what we need to do next to make sure that we have a number of temporary workers here that make sense for addressing affordability, for addressing the needs.

00:14:27.900 But there's also the risk of over-adjusting and damaging the economy.

00:14:31.260 The International Monetary Fund has said quite clearly that immigration has been a huge fuel in making sure that we didn't plunge into a recession like other countries in our situation.

00:14:39.400 And there has been some benefits that the Bank of Canada has clearly highlighted with some challenges that have come with it in and around housing, in and around affordability.

00:14:47.460 And Canadians, as we've heard quite clearly over the course of the last year, have asked us to make some adjustments.

00:14:52.120 And that's what we're doing.

00:14:52.900 And we're doing, I think, so in a thoughtful fashion.

00:14:55.060 And I do respect the fact that you're talking about, you know, you don't want to overshoot, essentially, that not everything is static.

00:15:02.100 You know, he really has that liberal skill.

00:15:05.020 In Orwell, it was called duck speaking, just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, like a duck, quack, quack, quack, quack.

00:15:10.320 Duck speaking is an insult in Orwell, but it's also a great compliment.

00:15:14.520 Oh, he's a great duck speaker.

00:15:17.480 That's my point from before.

00:15:18.980 Total GDP is growing, but it makes us all poorer.

00:15:22.320 And I don't know how anyone can dispute this, giving just the basics of supply and demand.

00:15:28.440 If you bring in 2 million more people a year, rents go up, wages go down.

00:15:34.820 And we see what happens in the youth employment rate.

00:15:38.300 Young people just simply don't go out and get that first job. 1.00

00:15:41.780 They don't even try.

00:15:43.580 How many people had their first job in fast food?

00:15:46.720 I know I did.

00:15:47.540 I worked at Callaway Park near my hometown of Calgary, working, you know, scooping ice cream, working cotton candy.

00:15:56.400 Absolute minimum wage jobs, but that's the first rung on the ladder.

00:16:00.520 You learn how to show up on time.

00:16:02.400 You know, you learn how to obey a boss.

00:16:04.520 You learn how to deal with customers who are a bit of a pain in the neck without showing it.

00:16:08.460 That first job, although it doesn't pay a lot, it teaches you things to be ready for the second job, the next rung on the ladder.

00:16:14.800 You can't really get to the next rung if the first rung is cut off because 2 million people a year are ahead of you in line because Trudeau thought he would employ India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Mexico.

00:16:25.760 Here, watch some more.

00:16:26.780 It hasn't been necessarily what it was a year ago.

00:16:29.520 But the Canadian press, I remember a number of months ago, reported that your predecessor received a briefing two years ago in which it was clearly outlined that both the temporary and permanent stream would have a salient impact on affordability.

00:16:42.060 You didn't do anything.

00:16:43.100 You know, I have to challenge you on that.

00:16:45.320 Like, you didn't do anything for at least a year after that.

00:16:48.640 It's like you kind of turned a blind eye.

00:16:50.740 Is there a reason for that?

00:16:52.200 Well, look, I read those memos assiduously pretty much every day.

00:16:56.900 We expect the public service to give us pros, cons of what impacts any measure that we take could generate.

00:17:03.560 Those are risks that we take.

00:17:05.240 You see this part?

00:17:06.700 He's blaming civil servants.

00:17:08.580 He's saying, oh, I get so many memos and, you know, I blame the memos.

00:17:13.240 You know, they're so good at throwing people under the bus, aren't they?

00:17:16.100 He learned that from Trudeau.

00:17:17.520 And then we treated Jody Wilson-Raybould.

00:17:19.280 All right, here, watch a little bit more.

00:17:20.460 And I think Canadians should see them and judge us for them.

00:17:25.040 But there are also risks in not taking those decisions and not taking those plunging into a recession, a real concern that would affect all Canadians.

00:17:32.280 Currently now with rising interest rates, it's obvious that we do have to make a number of adjustments that economists are looking at and expecting us to make in terms of changes.

00:17:40.040 He's saying it.

00:17:42.400 He's coming right out and saying it.

00:17:44.340 He's saying we would be in a recession if we didn't have mass immigration.

00:17:48.340 And again, what is the definition of a recession?

00:17:51.180 A recession is two consecutive quarters with negative growth.

00:17:55.560 That means the economy is getting smaller.

00:17:58.120 There he admits it.

00:17:59.320 He says Canada would be in a recession if they weren't just ramming through as many people as possible, thousands per day.

00:18:07.060 And they're doing that because, like I say, if you bring someone to Canada, no matter how strong or how weak, you will just grow the economy because now we've got to take care of somebody.

00:18:16.520 But that's not making any of us richer.

00:18:19.240 On a per capita basis, we've been in a recession in Canada for years.

00:18:24.060 I think that's one of the reasons they're doing it, to hide it.

00:18:26.840 The other is so obvious.

00:18:27.980 They want to cause chaos.

00:18:29.320 They want to boost their vote.

00:18:31.460 They want to strengthen the pro-Hamas wing of this country. 0.78

00:18:34.120 They want to change Canada forever.

00:18:37.060 Here, watch a little more.

00:18:39.120 Right.

00:18:39.520 And that is something that, under your government, has been a very specific policy measure.

00:18:43.660 We're now at about half a million going to be.

00:18:45.200 And the last time we spoke to you about this issue, you said the latest plan showed that level staying there for the next two years.

00:18:51.880 Can you expand on what kind of things your government is considering?

00:18:55.860 Are you considering, very bluntly, a reduction in permanent immigration?

00:19:00.140 Well, we are actually looking at a number of options.

00:19:02.980 When I paused the levels last year, it was with an undertaking to talk to Canadians and see what those levels look like or should be.

00:19:10.940 There has been significant growth, I think for good reason, in the last few years.

00:19:15.740 That economic growth, again, has been indispensable in making sure that the gross domestic product of the country has grown, that the entrance into the workforce, all driven by immigration, was assured. 0.97

00:19:26.500 You know, he talks about half a million permanent residents, which is a shockingly high number.

00:19:32.620 But even that number is a trick.

00:19:34.960 Because those may be the permanent residents, but there are more than one million students here on a visa.

00:19:43.220 But they're taking fake degrees.

00:19:45.360 And they're not going home when they're done.

00:19:47.700 And then there's three quarters of a million people who are here as temporary foreign workers.

00:19:52.740 But no one makes sure they leave afterward.

00:19:56.180 There's no deportations in this country.

00:19:58.320 When was the last time you've heard of a deportation?

00:20:00.760 So, yeah, on the books, we have 500,000 people a year coming to this country, which is a shocking record number.

00:20:07.440 But it's actually quadruple that.

00:20:10.160 Our population has grown two million people in the last year.

00:20:15.200 You can watch a little more.

00:20:16.580 Why is that the conversation happening right now?

00:20:19.140 And I ask with respect specifically to permanent, because every interview I've conducted with you or the housing minister over the last year,

00:20:25.080 you have been very insistent that what was driving the ills associated with immigration was on the temporary side of things.

00:20:31.460 And I even remember in January asking you this question about permanent, the permanent stream.

00:20:35.260 And you said, like, questions in that, you know, you were kind of hearing a lot of questions in that area.

00:20:39.440 And some of them had undertones of racism.

00:20:41.420 Like, that is the way that your government pushed back against questions about permanent residency.

00:20:45.160 And now, at one of the most politically vulnerable times for your party, you're willing to look at cutting those numbers.

00:20:51.020 Is that why?

00:20:51.800 Well, no.

00:20:52.200 Look, I'm not going to presume that racism doesn't exist, but there are legitimate views within Canadian society of people I would never think of calling them racist.

00:20:59.300 Yeah.

00:20:59.860 The word racist comes up.

00:21:01.620 But, you know, both CTV and the liberal government call people racist who have objected to immigration.

00:21:08.120 I'm glad Vasya Kapalos has put in this question to Mark Miller, because he's absolutely being disgusting about it.

00:21:14.360 But CTV is no better.

00:21:15.640 They call anyone who disagrees with mass immigration as racist.

00:21:19.840 But look here.

00:21:20.440 This is an amazing headline.

00:21:22.660 The premier of Quebec said that if they sent home all of Trudeau's foreign workers, 300,000 people from Quebec, immediately would solve the housing crisis.

00:21:32.320 And how could you possibly dispute that?

00:21:34.740 If you took out 300,000 people from the housing market in Quebec, not only would those 300,000 homes be available, but it would reduce pressure for everyone.

00:21:46.080 It wouldn't just be 300,000 people could find homes.

00:21:48.840 It's that the prices for everyone else would subside.

00:21:51.440 Take a little bit more.

00:21:52.980 Take a look.

00:21:53.380 Would your government have been more entertaining to those views previously?

00:21:56.620 Well, I think we should always be open to these points of views.

00:21:58.900 The conversations that I have, for example, around the Easter table, Christmas table, they're different views.

00:22:02.900 Some people have a different view on immigration than I do.

00:22:05.740 This is a country that has largely benefited and built an amazing consensus around immigration.

00:22:11.620 But again, we're hearing from different parts, different parts of Canada, different people in my own family that have different views on immigration.

00:22:18.760 I think we owe it as a responsible government to listen to them, even if we don't.

00:22:21.880 He talks about even my own family.

00:22:25.040 Yeah.

00:22:25.480 Well, I guess a few months ago he would have said, even my own family has racist because I guess now that some liberals are admitting immigration is too high, they're going to stop calling people racist.

00:22:35.660 Yeah.

00:22:35.920 Don't count on it.

00:22:37.140 They'll call you racist forever.

00:22:39.080 Sexist, transphobe, whatever they want.

00:22:41.420 Alt-right.

00:22:42.080 They'll call you anything to avoid dealing with the issues.

00:22:45.220 Keep watching.

00:22:45.600 Where can we best rationalize things?

00:22:47.880 Where can we have a sustainable level within the levels that we see with other countries of the OECD and have a conversation that's devoid of racism, but also reflective of what different people are thinking.

00:22:57.660 Both people from diasporas that we brought in, but also Canadians that have been here perhaps a little longer.

00:23:02.580 And I think that is what, that's what Canadians expect.

00:23:05.540 What does that even mean to have a conversation devoid of racism?

00:23:10.800 So he's saying, all right, I'm going to allow you to talk about immigration now, but only if you don't get all racist-y on me.

00:23:18.460 By which he means you can't question why we're receiving refugees from India.

00:23:25.260 You can't question why we're essentially letting these fake diploma mills, Acumen Academy, to sell, they're basically selling immigration for 10 or 20 grand in tuition.

00:23:39.420 They're not learning anything.

00:23:40.540 They're not teaching anything.

00:23:41.720 They're just calling people students to bring them over here.

00:23:44.440 There's a million people like that.

00:23:46.800 There are one million people in Canada who are here from foreign countries to study at fake schools. 0.98

00:23:53.760 That's more than there are Canadians in university, just so you know.

00:23:57.840 You're not allowed to talk about that because that's a little too racist-y.

00:24:01.300 I liked watching this interview.

00:24:02.980 I think it's about nine years too late.

00:24:05.260 Frankly, these questions should have been put to the Harper Conservatives beforehand, but they were terrified of being called racist.

00:24:11.520 I'm glad to see this interview.

00:24:12.940 I'm a little surprised to see it on CTV.

00:24:15.880 Don't let them get away with suddenly retracting the insults they've made against you for saying these things for years.

00:24:22.280 Stay with us.

00:24:23.060 Up next, our friend from the Taxpayers Federation.

00:24:34.660 Hey, welcome back.

00:24:35.700 You know, I love doing this show.

00:24:36.680 I love talking to like-minded people in the world, not just you, our viewers, but of course, newsmakers.

00:24:42.220 I enjoy interviewing people across the country.

00:24:44.620 You've gotten to know some of them.

00:24:45.740 We have them on a regular basis.

00:24:47.660 But in the back of my mind, I think, are we just in an echo chamber?

00:24:52.760 Am I just talking to people that I know will generally be on my side of things?

00:24:57.380 And that is one of the values of a public opinion poll, because as the public part of public opinion poll shows, you're going outside your friend group.

00:25:07.500 That's why you need a statistically valid sample size.

00:25:10.920 You need enough people that, on average, it's going to reflect what the larger population says.

00:25:16.200 It's a good gut check.

00:25:18.000 It's a good reality check that you're not off course.

00:25:21.680 And this next story will show you exactly what I mean.

00:25:26.160 Look at the headline on the Taxpayers.com website poll shows 7 in 10 Canadians oppose CBC bonuses.

00:25:38.820 You know, when I was growing up, people used to say the Canadian identity, what's that?

00:25:42.640 Well, it's being not American. 0.74

00:25:44.380 I didn't think that was a good answer.

00:25:45.640 People sometimes said, it's our Medicare system.

00:25:48.320 You don't hear that a lot anymore.

00:25:49.520 But one of the things some people actually claim is that the CBC keeps us together, represents us.

00:25:56.680 I don't think that was ever true.

00:25:58.620 But astonishingly, its viewership falls year after year, even though their budget grows and the Canadian population grows.

00:26:06.540 I don't know how you can do that in a growing population, have a shrinking viewership when you have a monopoly, when you're forced onto every cable package.

00:26:14.320 But what I love about this story today, and in about a minute, I'm going to introduce our speaker on the subject, our interviewee, is that this confirms that all the liberal blather and all the media party blather about the CBC being an absolutely essential institution.

00:26:31.700 Nah, people see through that now.

00:26:33.600 Joining me now to talk about this is the man who commissioned the poll, and I credit him for that, is our friend Franco Teresano, who is the boss over at the Taxpayers' Federation.

00:26:45.080 Franco, first of all, good for you for coming up with the idea, because it's a reality check, isn't it?

00:26:51.080 Because who do you believe, taxpayers' advocates or the establishment?

00:26:55.980 What do real Canadians think? 1.00

00:26:57.460 Well, this poll shows the answer, doesn't it?

00:26:59.800 Well, it sure does, right?

00:27:00.880 I mean, Canadians are just sick and tired of the government taking our money and handing out big bonus checks to the fat cats at the state broadcaster.

00:27:09.480 Now, to rewind for one second, you folks will remember that the CBC just rubber-stamped another new batch of bonuses to the tune of $18 million.

00:27:20.420 $18 million in bonuses this year.

00:27:22.900 Last year, it was $15 million.

00:27:25.000 The year before that, it was $16 million in bonuses.

00:27:27.960 They're actually giving them more an issue than before.

00:27:31.060 That's crazy.

00:27:32.580 Yeah, and it's all taxpayer-funded bonuses.

00:27:34.980 Remember, folks, as you struggle to afford a package of ground beef or just to go to the gas station and fuel up,

00:27:41.320 remember that the government is taking your money and giving it to the executives and manager at the CBC on your dime.

00:27:48.100 Now, going back to 2015, the CBC's taxpayer-funded bonuses have cost you $132 million, right?

00:27:55.900 So, here's why we decided to commission the poll.

00:27:58.700 Because they make you pay for their bonuses, but they've never asked you if you support their bonuses.

00:28:05.420 So, we decided to ask Canadians.

00:28:07.400 And this Leger poll shows that 7 in 10 Canadians are against the CBC bonuses.

00:28:12.660 The vast majority of Canadians want the government to end these bonuses, but it gets worse for the CBC and the federal government because, Ezra, if you remove the undecideds, then 81% of Canadians don't support these bonuses at the state broadcaster.

00:28:32.460 Yeah, I'm looking at your stats here, and this is from Leger, which is actually one of the largest Canadian pollsters, very credible.

00:28:40.060 We've used Leger before, I trust them.

00:28:43.080 Only 16% of Canadians positively say, no, no, pay the bonuses.

00:28:48.900 I was just reading, I was skipping ahead in your press release here a little bit.

00:28:53.260 You quote the unlikeliest source to support you.

00:28:58.140 I mean, if I had to make a list of the most diehard CBC supporters in the country, we'd put the Liberal Party in there.

00:29:06.280 But then there's this obscure lobby group that is always quoted by the CBC.

00:29:10.720 They call themselves Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

00:29:13.660 They are so connected to the government and the CBC.

00:29:16.300 It's basically like a puppet saying, like it's a ventriloquist.

00:29:21.420 Do you like the CBC?

00:29:22.780 I love the CBC.

00:29:24.080 It's called Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.

00:29:25.920 I mean, they, even they are outraged.

00:29:29.000 What did they say?

00:29:31.040 Well, yeah, even that organization, that advocacy group, if we can call them that,

00:29:35.420 even they have spoken out against the bonuses at the CBC,

00:29:39.560 something to paraphrase as it's unbefitting of a national broadcaster.

00:29:43.780 So, like, look, like the government continuing to rubber stamp these bonuses at the CBC.

00:29:49.660 I mean, there is opposition among Canadians, no matter which party or political ideology that they may have, right?

00:29:58.320 Here's the thing.

00:29:58.860 Like, why in the world is a state broadcaster, a crown corporation, which essentially is a part of the federal government,

00:30:05.540 one way or another, takes more than a billion dollars from taxpayers every single year.

00:30:09.880 Why in the world would they be paying bonuses?

00:30:11.880 And remember, folks, you're not just paying for big bonus checks, you're also paying for big paychecks.

00:30:19.380 The number of CBC staffers taking a six-figure salary has increased by 231% under the Trudeau government.

00:30:30.960 You know, it's party time if you're part of the inside club here.

00:30:36.100 Things have never been better.

00:30:37.440 They've never made more money.

00:30:38.500 They've never had more power if you're on their team.

00:30:42.260 But this poll you commissioned shows that at least 70% of people realize they're on the outs.

00:30:48.100 They're not inside with the party.

00:30:49.480 What's so incredible about this is that the CBC boss, Catherine Tate, lied about it, actually told parliament,

00:30:55.240 no, no, no, no, no, no, there's no bonuses.

00:30:56.780 We don't even use that phrase.

00:30:58.140 I think they had some goofy phrase about management incentives.

00:31:03.400 Like, they were trying to even cover it up.

00:31:07.520 I'm hopeful in my bones that if Pierre Paulyev wins the next election, something's going to change here

00:31:14.100 because I have never seen a politician at that level of credibility, as in he, according to every poll that's been published for the last year,

00:31:22.140 looks like he may win the next election.

00:31:24.100 I've never seen a politician at that level.

00:31:25.840 I mean, Maxime Bernier, who I have a lot of affection for, he says it all the time, but he's not on the precipice of becoming prime minister.

00:31:33.820 So Pierre Paulyev, very frequently, it's one of his number one applause lines in speeches, said he's going to defund the CBC.

00:31:42.140 It's almost like Donald Trump campaigning in 2016 about building the wall.

00:31:45.760 He says it every time, and my point to you, Franco, is you say something a thousand times, you make a lot of promises.

00:31:56.780 How would he keep that promise?

00:31:59.560 Have you done some thinking?

00:32:01.060 If we were to sell the CBC, shut down the CBC, defund the CBC, each of those are a little bit different.

00:32:07.800 Has the Taxpayers Federation given any thought to, how would that work?

00:32:12.280 What would the mechanics of it be?

00:32:13.820 Would you just sell it?

00:32:15.500 Would you shut it down?

00:32:16.420 Would you break it up and sell the pieces?

00:32:18.640 Do you guys have any opinions on that?

00:32:20.780 I sure hope Pierre Paulyev is thinking this through because that's going to be a promise people want him to keep day one.

00:32:26.200 So Ezra, I have a couple thoughts on that.

00:32:29.260 So maybe don't let me get too far astray.

00:32:31.320 But, you know, number one, whenever you have an advocacy group or maybe a political opposition party that is saying cut spending, the establishment politicians, the establishment bureaucrats, they want to drag you into the weeds.

00:32:46.760 They want, their tactic is to try to make Canadians believe it's so tactically hard or so tactically impossible that you just can't cut that spending.

00:32:56.460 But when it comes to the CBC, the government could essentially immediately defund it.

00:33:02.960 Okay, so what would have to happen is a couple steps.

00:33:05.540 But number one, you got to just cut the flow of tax dollars going to the state broadcaster, right?

00:33:11.460 And it's the politicians, it's cabinet, they're the ones who control the public purse strings. 0.96

00:33:16.280 So the most important thing, I think, for your audience, Ezra, to remember is don't get sucked into the technicalities.

00:33:22.680 It can happen, it should happen, and we have to keep pressure on this government or a future Paulyev government, if that is to happen, to actually live up to the promises that Mr. Paulyev has made.

00:33:35.020 Because they're good promises to defund the CBC.

00:33:38.480 Now, in terms of all the assets, the buildings and stuff, like there's a couple different things you could do.

00:33:43.100 Number one, you could sell it, that would be our preferred line of going, you could turn it into housing, make it available for housing for people to buy voluntarily.

00:33:53.240 But you know, Ezra, let me just add one more thing here.

00:33:56.480 Not only has Mr. Paulyev said he's going to defund the CBC, but on the Canadian Taxpayers Podcast,

00:34:02.020 he even said that he would end the bonuses for failing government authorities, which include not just the CBC, but also the Bank of Canada.

00:34:12.440 Because this type of extravagance and bonuses is happening all across the federal government.

00:34:19.820 You know, it's really quite something when government sector bosses who have a monopoly, who never risk bankruptcy,

00:34:29.820 who in many cases don't have real competitors, like the Bank of Canada.

00:34:33.980 There's no competitor to the Bank of Canada.

00:34:35.780 That's part of the problem is they have such a monopoly over things.

00:34:38.340 But they give themselves lavish bonuses as if they were bankers at a merchant bank in New York City, you know, fighting with the other banks and dog-eat-dog working 18 hours a day like, you know, some stockbrokers.

00:34:52.500 Like they, in their mind, like Catherine Tate, the president of the CBC, in her mind, must think she's a great media tycoon, even though she runs a government, not quite a monopoly, but it's larger than all other Canadian news media combined.

00:35:09.620 She's failing by every metric other than diversity by her own measure. 0.99

00:35:14.380 And yet she's giving herself raises as if she's running Fox News and being profitable, as if she's a winner. 1.00

00:35:22.500 It really gets me the self-delusion of these people who think they're rock stars in the corporate world.

00:35:28.400 They're losers who pay themselves like rock stars.

00:35:31.300 Last word to you, Franco.

00:35:32.840 Well, and also it's not comparable to the private sector for another reason.

00:35:36.380 Because in the private sector, bonuses are for when you do a good job.

00:35:40.160 Yeah, yeah.

00:35:40.760 Not just showing up to work twice a week with your shoes tied, right?

00:35:45.060 And in the private sector, you do a bad job, you get a pay cut or you get fired.

00:35:49.220 But in government, you know, it's just a bonus is like a participation ribbon, right?

00:35:54.060 Rubber stamp a bonus for essentially everyone who is eligible.

00:35:58.460 You are so right on that.

00:36:00.060 Well, it's great to see you again, Franco. 0.77

00:36:01.840 The taxpayers are the good guys, that's for sure.

00:36:04.440 And you know what I know in my bones is that, God willing, if Pierre Polyev becomes prime minister,

00:36:09.740 I know that you guys are going to be just as dogged at holding him to account and keeping his promises and advocating for the taxpayers then as you are now with Trudeau's prime minister.

00:36:20.200 In fact, in some ways, it becomes even more important because we need people who believe in small government to keep an eye on conservatives because a lot of other people say that's our team.

00:36:32.060 We can't criticize, I know from watching you over the decades, that the Taxpayers Federation is truly nonpartisan.

00:36:39.800 That's why we can trust you.

00:36:42.020 Hey, couldn't agree more, Ezra, and thank you so much for having me on the show.

00:36:44.900 Well, a pleasure as always.

00:36:45.940 There he is, Franco Teresano, who just commissioned that important poll on the CBC.

00:36:50.420 Stay with us.

00:36:51.280 More ahead.

00:36:51.740 Well, that's our show for today.

00:37:01.800 I want to tell you where I'm going tomorrow morning.

00:37:05.440 In downtown Toronto at 10 Armory Street is a courthouse.

00:37:10.160 And in that courthouse, our dear friend David Menzies will be, well, not on trial.

00:37:15.060 It's a preliminary hearing.

00:37:16.580 I don't know how many times he's been to court for this same matter.

00:37:19.740 I think this might be the third time I'd have to count.

00:37:21.980 This is one of the cases that David was arrested for doing journalism.

00:37:25.900 You'll remember he started the year out by being arrested for asking real questions of Chrystia Freeland.

00:37:32.860 Remember this?

00:37:37.440 Ms. Freeland, how come the IRDC is not a terrorist group?

00:37:42.760 Why is your government supporting Islamo-Nationalism? 0.92

00:37:46.620 What?

00:37:47.200 You're doing this.

00:37:48.280 What are you doing?

00:37:49.620 You're under arrest for law.

00:37:50.920 Sir, you bumped into me.

00:37:52.540 You're under arrest for assault.

00:37:54.280 Who are you?

00:37:54.780 You're under arrest for assault.

00:37:56.820 What are you talking about?

00:37:58.540 Police, you're under arrest for assault.

00:38:00.080 How am I under arrest?

00:38:00.900 You bumped into me.

00:38:02.040 You pushed into me, sir.

00:38:03.020 You bumped, I was just scrubbing.

00:38:04.640 I've got my credentials here and you just bumped into me.

00:38:07.720 So, excuse me.

00:38:09.080 You're under arrest for pushing.

00:38:10.200 What is your name in your bag?

00:38:12.120 I'm over here for a second.

00:38:13.020 What is your name in your bag?

00:38:13.660 You've been told you're under arrest?

00:38:15.160 Why am I under arrest?

00:38:16.380 I'm over here.

00:38:16.900 We've got a couple of hours.

00:38:17.700 He blocked my way.

00:38:21.540 What?

00:38:21.940 I was just scrubbing Christian Freeland.

00:38:24.600 I'm a police officer.

00:38:25.840 You're under arrest.

00:38:26.860 And then he was arrested when he was trying to interview pro-Hamas hate marchers in downtown Toronto.

00:38:32.980 Remember this?

00:38:33.740 This is the King's Highway.

00:38:40.260 I'm not going to police.

00:38:41.700 Hey, what is going on here?

00:38:43.560 We just want you to not believe it.

00:38:45.360 Guys, guys, guys.

00:38:46.500 Excuse me.

00:38:47.260 We're trying to put him behind the...

00:38:48.340 Hey, hey, hey.

00:38:48.960 That's my guy.

00:38:49.580 That's my guy.

00:38:50.300 Stop.

00:38:50.780 And here's another one where he was swept off the streets actually at a pro-Israel event.

00:38:56.120 David was fine.

00:38:56.880 He was actually invited there.

00:38:58.080 When he went to talk to some of the gate crashes from the pro-Hamas side, he was arrested again.

00:39:03.140 Remember this?

00:39:14.500 Obey your oath, officer.

00:39:16.560 Obey your oath.

00:39:18.420 Listen, if I'm under arrest, get your hands off.

00:39:22.080 Okay, then I'll take it.

00:39:23.120 Put your phone down.

00:39:24.540 Put your hand behind your back.

00:39:25.980 Put your hand behind your back.

00:39:27.760 You're under arrest.

00:39:28.500 We're refusing to leave, okay?

00:39:30.100 We're going to lock you to the wagon, Mr. Men. 0.86

00:39:32.540 David has been arrested again and again this year, and we have had to hire a lawyer to fight every one of them.

00:39:38.060 Tomorrow is such an occasion.

00:39:39.920 I'm going down there personally because I think there's a chance that the prosecution might drop this charge against David.

00:39:47.080 That'll be three times the Toronto Police Service.

00:39:49.720 I'll say four arrests this year totally.

00:39:51.620 Four times he's been arrested this year, and I think this will be the withdrawal of the final one.

00:39:57.120 I don't want to get ahead of myself.

00:39:58.860 We'll see if that happens.

00:40:00.340 But they've been delaying.

00:40:02.680 The police have been refusing to hand over what's called disclosure, which is their case against David.

00:40:08.080 Any paperwork, any recordings, any memos, anything, any records at all.

00:40:12.760 It's David's legal right to receive those, of course, but they've refused to hand them over.

00:40:17.480 Why?

00:40:18.280 Is there something embarrassing in them, or is there actually nothing there?

00:40:22.600 Hopefully we'll find out tomorrow.

00:40:23.780 I'll be live tweeting it starting at around 9 a.m. Eastern time, 7 a.m. for our friends out in Alberta, 6 a.m. in Vancouver.

00:40:34.020 I want to be there.

00:40:35.380 I want to see what it's like in court.

00:40:36.820 And if David does go free, I want to be on hand to congratulate him.

00:40:40.860 That's tomorrow morning.

00:40:41.820 Until then, on behalf of all of us here at Rebel World Headquarters, to you at home, good night, and keep fighting for freedom.

Rebel News Podcast - August 28, 2024

EZRA LEVANT ｜ Trudeau’s immigration minister gets in a car crash of an interview — with the CTV of all people

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